TV Tuner?

[videogames101]

I have been looking at a few ATI models, but i can't figure out the difference between them. Trying to keep the price under $100, any suggestions?

 

[videogames101]

Anyone?

 

[DefDC]

Bump. I'm in the same boat.

Here's my post from a Hot Deal discussion:

My Leadtek Winfast 2000 is dying, and I just started playing around with Beyond TV. (Looks friggin' SWEET!) I just need to upgrade to a decent hardware card. Can't decide if I want to lowball with a cheaper 150 card something like the OP mentioned, or go the whole hog a get a nice Nvidia DualTV. Decisions... Decisions..

Anybody using a cheaper TV Tuner that they really like. Is then anything about a Hauppage 150 that people don't like? I'm assuming that best way to go for cheap... I don't plan on using MCE, I'd rather stick with Beyond TV.

 

[Fraggable]

I had the Hauppage 150 card for a week or so, returned it because I will be getting a HDTV card later on. It was this card:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116631

IQ was great in my experience, setup was easy. I didn't get to play with Beyond TV because the CD was missing from my box.

 

[Childs]

In hotdeals theres an oem ati 550 for under $50. Has a 3d comb filter, and is pcie.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1927806&enterthread=y

If I didn't already have two pvr 250's I'd get it, as the comb filter will greatly improve SD tv.

 

[OBCT]

I got the ATI TV Wonder Elite, and it's awesome. Great image quality, and it came with like 5 cables to connect practically anything to it, which is a plus.

 

[RollWave]

I've had so many issues with tuners...agh! I hate them all! ...whatever you do dont get a hauppage PVR500. its all F'd up. Hauppage is going to have to do a recall pretty soon from what I'm seeing over at the snapstream forums....I'm tryin a Hauppage USB tuner next. Getting it on the 21st.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I've got an ATI HDTV Wonder, OTA HD is sweet (especially since I'm about a mile away from all 4 major network towers) - however the card's analog support sucks (software decoding and the IQ is sub par for analog) - and I had to jump through hoops to get it to work. However it leaves me wanting more, which is why I'm waiting for the Theater 650.

I'd probably jump on some Theater 550 based boards for my analog cable, but I really love the OTA HD...

 

[Mloot]

Originally posted by: DefDC
...I just started playing around with Beyond TV. (Looks friggin' SWEET!)

Anybody using a cheaper TV Tuner that they really like?

I'm using an old OEM Asus tv card (one of the "Blackbird" designs) that I picked up in the FS/FT forum for something like $40 a year or so ago. I can't say I have any complaints, and it works a heck of alot better than the Leadtek TV2000 Expert that I had before it. I used it, until recently, with the free PVR program called GB-PVR, which works really well, considering the price.

Recently, I thought about splurging for the Nvidia DualTV card, but what turned me off was the price and the fact that to use the DualTV's advanced user settings you have to have MCE (I'm running XP Pro).

The secret sauce of the DualTV is really only unlocked when you use the new NVIDIA DualTV control panel inside of MCE 2005.

Here you can tweak some important settings such as Noise Reduction and the Picture Mode (various optimized video presets), the choice is applied in real-time to the preview window so you can see what each setting does.

- from the review linked above

Since I still wanted dual tuners, I bought a used 550 Pro for $45/shipped in the FS/FT forums a couple of weeks ago. I haven't really noticed a big difference in PQ between the Asus and ATI cards, but that may be due to not having the greatest cable input to begin with. The one difference that stands out is that the ATI card records at a lower volume, which is a minor annoyance.

I'm currently checking out BeyondTV (trial version) and I like it enough that I'll probably purchase it when the trial period is over. While BeyondTV's program guide is not as pretty as GB-PVR's, the initial setup is much easier. It was very simple to set up both tuner cards, and recording from either (or both) is a snap. GB-PVR is a bit more complicated to set up, but following the installation instructions makes it bearable, at least.

 

[Topplayer]

Originally posted by: Fraggable
I had the Hauppage 150 card for a week or so, returned it because I will be getting a HDTV card later on. It was this card:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116631

IQ was great in my experience, setup was easy. I didn't get to play with Beyond TV because the CD was missing from my box.

hauppage 150 is a great card. really god bang for your buck

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: rnp614
I'm tryin a Hauppage USB tuner next. Getting it on the 21st.

You wont regret it, I :heart: mine.

 

[WT]

bunny, does the ATI card act as an ATSC decoder for HD ? I have a Hauppauge 150 but I'm planning on doing OTA HD and my plasma does not have an ATSC unit. Between these cards, I should have analog and HD covered. I was waiting for the Dvico Fusion 5 Gold unit but the ATI has better support and its cheaper to boot.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: WT
bunny, does the ATI card act as an ATSC decoder for HD ? I have a Hauppauge 150 but I'm planning on doing OTA HD and my plasma does not have an ATSC unit. Between these cards, I should have analog and HD covered. I was waiting for the Dvico Fusion 5 Gold unit but the ATI has better support and its cheaper to boot.

yes it does, but I don't think the troubles are worth it to mess with (unless you're setting up a new rig, OS and all, and have time to get it working right)

the HDTV IQ from the HDTV Wonder is spot on amazing, however the card is ATI's first attempt at HD and it really feels that way - that's why I'm wanting the 650.